RALEIGH, N.C. — In October, the Wake County Animal Shelter shut down because of an outbreak possibly connected to mysterious respiratory diseases appearing in dogs around the country.
What You Need To Know
- The Wake County Animal Center reopened after an influenza outbreak forced an eight-week shutdown
- The shelter will proceed with caution and hold appointment-only adoptions in December
- Four dogs died from the outbreak at the Wake County Animal Center
The shelter reopened Monday after being closed for 8 weeks due to the canine influenza outbreak.
Community Outreach Manager Meagan Frost says staff did all they could to keep the shelter dogs alive.
“Thankfully we did keep the deaths to a very low single digits. We were able to save over 150 lives," said Frost.“Thankfully we did keep the deaths to a very low single digits. We were able to save over 150 lives," said Frost.
A quarantine had to be implemented and four dogs died from the virus.
For two months, staff at the shelter sprayed the bottom of their shoes with a disinfectant during their shifts and wore PPE.
The shelter was divided into red and green zones. Once in the red zone, staff had to stay there the rest of the day or go home to avoid spreading the airborne virus.
At its height, nearly 80 of the 170 dogs at the shelter showed symptoms.
"You've got coughing, you’ve got sneezing, you’ve got nasal discharge, eye discharge, you’ve got very wet coughs and hacking," Frost said about the dogs.
No new cases of the upper respiratory disease have been reported at the shelter since Nov. 13, and Frost hopes the nightmare is behind them.
“We don't anticipate any backslides or anything from this," Frost said.
The shelter is open for cat adoptions by appointment only. It will be the same for dogs on Wednesday.
Shelter staff said they are proceeding with caution and limiting intakes for the next few weeks.